Now I’ve seen everything.
It had a nice leather cover, perfect to fit in your walking back, so you could consult the Heavenly Golfer for advice on that tough 175 yard approach shot…
Why did God institute marriage?
Why Indeed?
Wisdom from children
So this morning we’re doing chapel, and our text is Matthew 19:1-12, Jesus’ teaching on divorce and marriage (and eunuchs). I ask the kids why God instituted marriage. A kindergartner, the daughter of another blogger, responds Continue reading
New Blog on Historic Lectionary/Preaching
There’s a new blog in town. It is on the traditional one year lectionary, and has sermons, and will soon have helps and notes on the upcoming Sundays, and soon I expect will have a podcast.
Check it out:
-LL
Septuagesima 2008 – The Naked God and the Clothed God
Todd A. Peperkorn, STM
Messiah Lutheran Church
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Septuagesima (January 20, 2008)
Matt. 20:1-16
On the Baptism of Beata Susan Peperkorn
For an audio MP3 of this sermon, CLICK HERE
TITLE: “The Naked God and the Covered God”
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for today is the parable of the men working in the vineyards from St. Matthew chapter twenty.
What are we to do with a text like this? We have the complaining, grumbling Israelites, the complaining, grumbling workers, and in our Epistle we find St. Paul encouraging the Corinthians not to grow weary in the race of the faith. It seems as though complaining and grumbling is what we do best. Continue reading
Tom Cruise, John Travolta & Scientology: A Triad of the Bizarre
What is it with these guys? Surely we know that Satan is always at work, seeking to deceive even the elect, but I just don’t get it. Tom Cruise releases a video on the tenets of Scientology, and even MTV can’t make sense of it.
How is that possible? Don’t they have some sort of vulcan mind meld, where the goofballs in the media can understand the goofballs on film? Maybe not.
The other great Scientologist of our age, of course, is John Travolta, who attributes much of his success as an actor to Dianetics. It’s too bad that his movie, Battlefield Earth, didn’t include that success.
Dianetics was founded by L. Ron Hubbard, a relatively famous science fiction writer from the mid-20th century. It is a weird combination of pop-psychology, mythology, sci-fi,and goofiness. A part of the reason it has done as well as it has is because they love to litigate.
Why does the media love to give this stuff traction? Well, let’s see:
- It’s strange
- It’s about famous people
- It’s non-Christian or even anti-Christian
- It supports (in its own strange way) a multi-cultural worldview
- It contributes to the “spirituality” of the age
Like it or not, we live in a spiritual age. That spirit, of course, is no more Christian than the last age (modernism), but it is spiritual nonetheless. I expect us to see a lot more popular figures embraces borderline cults in the name of finding their spiritual center.
Kyrie eleison and maranatha,
-LL